This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/611,094, filed Jul. 1, 2003 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,076,818, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/532,592, filed Mar. 22, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,584,628, which is a continuation-in-part of application U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/018,542, filed Feb. 4, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,163,903, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/511,711, filed Aug. 4, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,715,548, the disclosures of which are all expressly incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to a bed, and particularly to patient-care beds. More particularly, the present invention relates to a chair bed that can be manipulated to achieve both a conventional bed position having a horizontal sleeping surface upon which a person lies in a supine position and a sitting position having the feet of the person on or adjacent to the floor and the head and back of the person supported above a seat formed by the bed.
It is known to provide hospital beds having a sleeping surface and siderails. The sleeping surface of such beds can often be manipulated to adjust the position of the person on the sleeping surface. It is also known to provide hospital beds which perform functions such as the prevention/treatment of decubitus ulcers (bedsores), pulmonary rotational therapy, or percussion/vibration therapy.
According to the present invention, a chair bed is provided including a bed frame and a mattress positioned on the bed frame. The bed frame includes a deck having a foot section that is movable between a substantially horizontal position when the bed is in a bed position and a substantially vertical position when the bed is in a chair position. The mattress includes a support surface and an inflatable treatment apparatus configured to move between inflated and deflated positions to provide treatment to a patient positioned on the support surface.
According to a presently preferred embodiment of the invention, the foot section is also movable between a retracted position having a first length and an extended position having a second length greater than the first length. The inflatable treatment apparatus includes a pulsation therapy device configured to pulsate at a predetermined rate and a rotational therapy device. The rotational therapy device is configured to maintain the right and left portions of the upper surface of the mattress at a normal height during normal operation of the mattress and to provide a rotational therapy operation. During the rotational therapy operation, the mattress is oscillated between first and second phases. During the first phase, the left portion of the upper surface is below the normal height and the right portion is above the normal height. During the second phase, the right portion of the upper surface is below the normal height and the left portion is above the normal height. The mattress further includes a layer of resilient material positioned between the pulsation therapy device and the rotational therapy device.
The bed further includes a rotational control module movable between an attached position coupled to the bed frame and a detached position spaced apart from the bed frame. The rotational control module controls the oscillations between the first and second phases of the rotational therapy operation. The bed further includes a peer-to-peer network, a master module electrically coupled to the peer-to-peer network, and a slave module, such as the rotational control module, electrically coupled to the master module. The master and slave modules are configured to perform a function related to operation of the bed. The bed further includes a removably coupled pulmonary pulsation control module from controlling percussion and/or vibration therapy of the patient.
Additional features of the disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.